I am interested in trying the acid dyes to hand paint my silk scarves. I get conflicting info on the technique.

If I steam my silk, do I still need vinegar or citric acid? Or does the steam fixing bypass the need of acid?Are colors less intense in the absence of acid?

People have recommended the follwing:'1. soak the fabric in vinegar/citric acid before painting2. add vinegar/ citric acid to steaming water.3. Add vinegar.citric acid to the dye solution.Any recommendations?Thanks.

I'd like to use citric acid, which I buy in the supermarket spice section to use for sweet & sour recipes, instead of vinegar with acid dyes. What amounts would substitute in instructions for amount of vinegar?

Also, if I'm dyeing very small pieces of silk- 1/2 yard or less- can I do it in ziploc bags in the microwave? How?

One rule of thumb is to substitute citric acid for an equal volume of 56% acetic acid, which is eleven times stronger than ordinary 5% distilled white vinegar—so, you can divide the amount of vinegar called for by a factor of eleven.

I use citric acid crystals - which call for 1 Tablespoon per pound of fiber - although I use just as much for smaller immersion baths with less fiber. It seems to help to have a little extra to help the fiber take up some of the darker or brighter dyes.

Would like to make a flag for group event in Sept. To save time and cut back a bit on the sewing. Painting with Acid Dye came up as an option. My questions are the same as siriwars from February 9 1. soak the fabric in vinegar/citric acid before painting2. add vinegar/ citric acid to steaming water.3. Add vinegar.citric acid to the dye solution.Any recommendations?The fabric I will be using is a rayon blend made for flags.

Rayon is a cellulose fiber and can't be dyed with acid dyes. The acid dye will wash out of rayon. Neither citric acid nor vinegar will help acid dye stay in rayon. For dyeing rayon, choose fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX dye, or direct dye, such as iDye.

In contrast, nylon dyes well with acid dyes. Flags are often made of nylon.

I read that to set acid dye in silk you need two things, acid and heat. Here is the method I would like to use. I would like your feedback. Step 1: soak silk in water/acid bath, using water and either vinegar or citric acid. Let dry. 2: Paint the desired patterns using Jacquard powder acid dyes mixed with hot water to apply as paint to silk. 3: Let painted on dye dry. 4: Roll silk in paper for steaming. 5: Steam in fabric steamer 6: unroll, dry, and rinse in cold water. Is this a sound method to have the colors set and not leach? Thanks.

Hi need help, I have used Jacquard acid dyes on satin peep-toe shoes. Prepared the mixture by mixing 8 oz. (of very hot water to one ½ oz. jar of Jacquard Acid Dye powder. Painted the shoes incl the inner lining under the toes. Dried with hot air (hair dryer) and sprayed with an impregnation spray (this happened over 3 days ago) but when I put the shoes on they stain my feet. Did I do it correctly? Do I need to wait longer? What else can I do? Thanks

What fiber is the satin made of? Acid dye would work well on silk satin, but it's completely the wrong choice for polyester satin. You have to match the type of dye you use to the fiber content of the material.

If you used acid dye on polyester satin, you need to rinse and rinse with water until the dye is gone. If that's impossible, maybe you can seal in the loose dye by painting with a clear colorless fabric paint, such as Neopaque Flowable Extender. Not sure if this will work, but it's something to try.

Steaming is definitely the best option. Baking will not suffice: the moisture is as important as the heat for proper setting. Is there a reason you want to avoid steaming? It is relatively simple to do, even without an actual steamer... There are chemical fixatives that will work for acid dyes. However, this method is a bit problematic. I highly recommend performing a test before you try to chemically set your painting. You can use the fixative in the iDye line (http://jacquardproducts.com/idye.html) as a fix bath: dilute it according to the instructions and submerge your fabric in it, being sure to keep it moving the entire time. You run the risk of back staining when fixing in this manner, which is one reason I'd encourage you to do a test first. Also, your colors won't come out as vibrant as if you steam set. Something happens during steaming that makes colors pop a little extra. You cannot achieve this effect with a chemical fixative...I know some people use a microwave for setting instead of a steamer; however, I have never tried this. My understanding is that the painting must be wet and must be wrapped in plastic (or else it will catch on fire!). Call me old fashioned, but this has always made me nervous, especially since re-wetting a painting would surely make the color run... Perhaps someone else can offer some information on this method? Otherwise, I'm sure you can find something on Paula Burch's website (www.pburch.net) or Dharma Trading's (http://www.dharmatrading.com/)... Good luck!

I have been using Dupont and Jacquard dyes, and steaming silk forever. However, I read online that you can microwave for 5-7 minutes silk that has been soaked in a vinegar/water solution, or citric acid solution, prior to dying, and then use the microwave to set the dye. Well, tonight I tried this method, and was shocked that it actually set the dye completely. I used Dupont dyes, and soaked the silk in a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar, to 1 quart of water prior to dying. While the fabric was damp with the solution, I did a shibori technique with the DuPont dye, and a twisted tye dye, then placed the dyed silk in the microwave at 80% power for 6 minutes ( in a glass bowl covered with saran wrap). Took the silk out, hung it until it was almost dry, then washed it in synthropol and cold water, and I was shocked that there was almost no discharge, or running. The colors stayed bright. Beats 2 hours of steaming per scarf. Wow, will continue to pretreat with vinegar or citric acid. Don't know if this method works if using water based gutta, or No Flow. Will try both and let you know. Just wanted to share this method with others, since it was such a time saver, and saw no difference between this and steaming. Except of course the time.

Thank you so much for sharing your results! I have had great success microwaving not only silk with Acid dyes, but also cottons with Procion MX.I am going to throw out some cautions - as always it is a good idea to dedicate utensils to dyeing, including the microwave used for setting. Always make sure your fabrics are wet/damp. And most important, ALWAYS remain in the same room with the microwave during the setting. One small microwave fire has made me the Smoky Bear of the dye lab!

I have also had great success using the microwave! But using the Jacquard green label dyes only and painting on wet silk with vinegar and water. I made sure the silks were dye set with and dried first, and not trusting that method alone went ahead and tried steam setting in the microwave. I rolled the silks in paper towels, making sure the paper towels were spritzed with water. I used lots of paper towels, two layers below, one layer on top, then rolled up not too tight and very carefully to avoid wrinkles. Then I rolled another layer of paper towels from end to end this time. I placed the silk package on top of an upside down glass loaf pan inside a glass oblong dish. I then placed another wad of paper towels on top of the silk package, loosely placed a small piece of aluminum foil (yes, that's right!) over the top, like a tent, and covered it tightly with plastic wrap. I set the microwave for 3 minutes, turning the dish around after the first three, and continued for another 3 minutes. BWAH LAH! Perfect. I got a few wrinkles that easily steam ironed out right after I took it out of the microwave. Yes, do watch your cooking time, I made a mistake and gave my package an additional 3 minutes (9 altogether) and Yikes!!! That one went into the trash. Oh well, LOL.